‘Grimm’’s David Giuntoli Makes His Directing Debut

Just in the “Nick” of time! Grimm star David Giuntoli gets his first shot at directing during the NBC series’ sixth and final season with an episode (airing January 20) that finds his detective character, Nick Burkhardt, sniffing a magic potion that morphs him into a clone of his boss—the evil Capt. Sean Renard (Sasha Roiz). Then the two Seans duke it out in a killer fight.

“Everybody was nervous about me directing because I’m a goofball on the set and don’t have a long attention span,” admits Giuntoli. “But I was ready. I did a ton of homework. I didn’t want to let anybody down.” And he didn’t. “It was the best time I’ve ever had professionally—without doubt and without exception,” says Giuntoli. “If you had put me in an MRI machine, you would have seen my entire brain light up!”

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Giuntoli admits with a laugh that directing his finacée Bitsie Tulloch (Juliette/Eve) “could have been a nightmare but even that worked out well. Everyone was open to everything I had to offer. I knew everyone’s tics, how they like to be approached, which actors you can be direct with. I was armed with a lot of intimate knowledge that our visiting directors don’t have.”

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On the final day of shooting the cast and crew threw him a party. “They bought me a cake and said really sweet things and the camera crew gave me a clapper board with my name on it,” says Giuntoli. “And then Russell Hornsby [Hank] started singing ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ and everyone joined in. I’m, like, ‘What year is this? Who sings that anymore?’ It was hilarious, and really, really emotional. I had to sneak off to Bitsie’s trailer for a few minutes because I didn’t want anyone seeing me get misty-eyed.”

Grimm, Season premiere, Friday, Jan. 6, 8/7c, NBC